Water meter



June 1-4, 1927. w- L .MARDEN WATER METER Filed 001:.

I/WENTUR Patented June 14, 1927 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ILLIAM L. 'MARDEN, OFELMHURST, NEW YO K, ASSIGNOR To NEPTUNE METER oomra w, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

" WATER METER,

Application filed October 28, 1924. Serial No. 746,278;

In the increasing use of oil enclosed gear trains for disc water meters, in whlch the I geartrain for the actuation of the register ing devices from the nutating disc is' separatedfrom the disc chamber by a'partition,

it has been found, particularly in cold climates, that although the disc chamber may be drained, the liquid within the gear cham-,

ber, whether it-be oil or water, which has worked into the gear chamber, is oftentimes retained in the gear chamber in such quantity that when frozen there isdanger of injuring the gear train. The object o f the invention is to permit the nutating movement of the disc to be resumed when water is admitted again to the disc chamber, without starting the movement of the gearing and therefore injuring the gearing through breakage of the gear teeth. The object is attained by mountin one ear of the gear train frictionally so t at fill'iOllgll such gear or shaft may rotate when the nutating movement of the disc begins, the remainder.

of the train shall be at rest if the free operation of the train should be prevented by ice or congealed lubricant.

The inventionwillbe described hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawing in which it is illustrated and in 3 which-- r Figurel is a "View in vertical sectional elevation of a disc meter with its gear train, the casin for the register and two of the gears of t eiregister being also shown.

Figure 2 is a view in section showing the main driving gear mounted frictionally on its pinion. 7 1 v Figure 3 is a View of the parts shown in Figure 2, as seen from below; 40

of well known construction, comprising .a casing a in the lower part of chamber 6 of which is mounted a disc chamber a with its nutating'disc d and spindle d. The latter engages the fin ered disc e on the lower end of a shaft e;' w ich is received in a suitable bearing f supported'by a horizontal plate or partition 9 which, in meters of the particution by which one of the gears of the train lar type referred to, having an oil-enclosed gear train, forms a horizontal partition betweenthe lower chamber 6 and the gear chamber h. The partition or bottom plate 9 of the gear chamber h is-received snugly 65 within the mam casing a so as to retain oil positively the remainder of the train.

The meter chosen for illustration of the application of the present improvements is within the gear chamber and particularly so as to prevent the wash offlthe oil in the ear chamber by currents of the water w ich flows through the lower part of the casing. In practice it is found that more or less water does in time work into the gear cham her and thatalthough the lower part of the meter may be drained completely such water passes very slowly from the gear chamber and sometimes remains therein in such quantity as to cause' damage'to the gear train in freezing. The partition or bottom plate 9 is supported by a geariframe 'h', which itself is supported from the top of the casing a, as by a nut a which engages ,thethreaded portion [L2 of the gear frame.

The gear train, shown generally at h may be of any usual or suitable construction,

comprising a series of reduction gears 75 through which the register mechanism, in-

dicated sufficiently by the gears z', is driven In accordance with the invention this first or main gear k is mounted frictionally so that it may be'rotated without actuating As shown, the gear h is mounted frictionally on the sleeve shaft h of the elongated pinion 'h by which motion is transmitted to the remainder of the gear train. The gear h is shown as held to the pinion h by a slotted spring clip h which engages the shouldered lower end of the pinion shaft and bears at it. Should it ha pen, therefore, that the its ends against the under side of the gear free operation oft e gear train is prevented I for any cause, as b ice between the-teeth of the gears or by t e congealing of the lution of the nutating disc and can be rotated bricant, the gear "h can be rotated by the ac:

upon the shaft of the pinion it without causing breakage of the teeth of the at any point. I I

I Various other modifications of construcgear train train will Ina water meter wherein, a partition di vides the interior of a main casing, a gear train above the partition including a sleeve wherebyv a frictional connection is had betoothedat one end to form a P1111011 and tween the two, "and means for driving the m shouldered to provide a seat at the other end, gear. v

a geerjmounted in the seat, a groove in the This specification signed this 27th day of 5 sleeve between the ear and its end, a. yoke October, A. D. 1924.

shaped spring mefn er engaging the groove and bearing upon the gear at its extremities WILLIAM L. MARDEN. 

